Disclaimer: Disgaea belongs to Nippon Ichi. The plot of this fanfiction is mine.

Author's Notes: This story primarily focuses on Pleinair's life in the two years between King Krichevskoy's death and Laharl's awakening. In-game spoilers most likely won't occur, except perhaps when I mention it in passing. But if you're worried about spoilers, stop reading and go play the game dood. Sheesh. And if it matters any, I've only played Disgaea DS.

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness ••• Pleinair's Journey

Ad Astra Per Aspera

—to the stars through difficulty—

Chapter one: mala tempora currunt

—bad times are upon us

A beautiful—albeit slightly aged—woman clad in a flowing black dress with red trim flips a length of blue hair behind slim shoulders. She grabs hold of the old witch's broom and opens the wooden door to her daughter's bedroom...

To find a white rabbit lounging on the bed covers.

"PLEINAIR!"

A chorus of muffled feet is heard as a young child slams the entrance to the humble abode open. Her gown is also lined with red, but unlike her mother's, it is a solid white. She pauses at the doorway and lightly tugs at the red ribbon adorning her head.

"Yes, mama?"

The adult lets out a soft sigh as she lays her broom against the wall and scoops the rabbit up. "You may play with the small animals as often as you'd like, but you're not to bring them indoors. Haven't I told you so before?"

"But..." Pleinair whispers as she scuffles her feet in nervousness. She lets her gaze drift down to the wooden floorboard, finding sudden fascination with the uneven bumps caused by previous surges of rainwater, before she continues. "The bunny...it's injured!"

Pleinair looks back up to her mother's face, warm red eyes widened imploringly. Her mother looks taken back for a moment, before she gently lifts the rabbit in her arms up to inspect it. She notices a gash in its left hind foot.

She smiles softly and crouches down to lower the rabbit on the floor. It's only a minor injury, so she casts a simple Heal spell over the small creature. The rabbit becomes uneasy and fidgets under the gentle greenish-yellow glow, but then relaxes once more as Pleinair's mother uses her other hand to caress its back in smooth circular motions.

"There. All better." She picks the rabbit back up and dispenses it in her daughter's waiting arms. "You should return it to its home now."

Pleinair perks up and gives a shy smile. "Then can I play with them for a little longer outside, mommy?"

She releases an airy chuckle as she ruffles her daughter's sky-blue hair, a shade lighter than the metallic blue that cascades behind her own back. "Of course dear. Just be back in time for dinner."

Pleinair spins on her heels before dashing back out the entranceway into the spring green meadow. She blinks once, and the child is already out of sight, most likely already in the small grove of trees further ahead.

She closes her eyes briefly and smiles as she reclaims the waiting broomstick. Her daughter really is as fast as the wind.

Pleinair picks up the woven basket she left below the shade of the outer level of trees before running in. She comes to an easy halt as she lowers the rabbit on the ground carpeted by dainty leaves. It immediately hops off to join the awaiting group of matching snow-white rabbits.

Giggling, Pleinair lightly prances right into the center of a pile of leaves. The once scattered creatures gather and leap forward to playfully tackle her small frame.

"Alright, alright! One at a time now!"

She scoops up the rabbit on her right shoulder and dumps it into her open lap. She then procures a red ribbon from the basket and ties it around the rabbit's neck. Once she's done, the rabbit fondly nuzzles her neck and small beady eyes blink affectionately at her identically colored orbs.

A tinkling peal of laughter falls from her lips as her eyes sparkle with merriment. She lays the rabbit in her hands to one side before shifting her head to look at the rest.

"Let's dress all of you up!"

The rabbits skip closer, becoming one massive huddle as they hop forward in unanimous assent.

Finishing the chore of gathering lint and dust on the floor, Pleinair's mother starts to head for the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. She stops at the sound of tapping from behind.

With faint curiosity, she makes her way back towards the entrance and opens the door.

"Yes? Who is—"

She leaves the question unfinished as her eyes meet the man standing before her, voice dying off in faint surprise. It wasn't a neighbor like she thought it would be. The young man—a ninja, as his green attire of scarf, poofy pants, and bandaged limbs would indicate—is a stranger she certainly has never seen before. Visitors aside from the local populace were a rarity, given the fact that this quaint village lay in a valley that lay at the very outskirts of the Netherworld. The land was a hospitable mix of grassland and woods, but it was situated in the middle of nowhere and secluded by a ring of low hills. Wayward travelers were very few and far between, and it was stranger still to see one who seemed to have just outgrown his teenage years. Most that did come were old veterans who wanted to either explore the whole world or sought some relief from the hubbub and power play that was ever-present at the heart of the Netherworld.

She recovers from her musings and her lips curtsy into a smile. "May I help you?"

The young man politely waves his hand before running it through his slate-gray strands of hair. "No—nothing much. Is there a branch of Rosen Queen in the vicinity?"

She lifts a blue eyebrow in response. "Running out of travelling supplies?"

He shakes his head but lets out a low grunt. "It is nothing urgent. This is just the first house I came upon, so..." He breaks off and begins turning away from the door. "My apologies for disturbing—"

She swings the door open, wider now, as she cuts him off before he can slink away into the shadows. "I'm afraid this small village doesn't have one. You'd have to head to the larger settlement further west."

The stranger casts cool steel eyes back at the doorway. "How far away is it?"

She cradles her chin in one arm, the elbow in the palm of the other hand, as she does the calculations in her head. "It's not exactly..close. Let's see...even if you travel the entire distance with the speed of a ninja...It'll take approximately five—no, eight more days." She twirls a strand of hair around her forefinger as she continues to struggle with her estimates. "Yes...eight. Five is to get to that clearing at the other side of the hills, which actually serves as a decent campsite."

Gray eyebrows furrow and a slight frown makes its way onto the stranger's porcelain face. The shop is evidently farther than he would've liked. She inwardly chuckles in amusement; for a Shadow Ninja, this young man's expressions are far too easy to read. There's no threatening aura from him either, and as a Prophet, she was very sensitive to such things—retired or not.

Her smile widens as she takes a step back into her house and waves her hand. "If you need some food supplies, I can gather a small satchel to tide you over for the next couple of days. Just come inside and rest for a while as I prepare them."

The ninja hesitates on the doorstep as his eyes narrow slightly. But just as she felt no threat from him, he did not detect a sliver of malicious intent in the woman's being. And he really needed to stock up on supplies. After debating it further for a fraction of a second, he nodded and muttered a quiet word of thanks before stepping into the abode.

Pleinair's mother guides him to a seat in the dining room as she wanders to the kitchen corner where the supplies are stored. As she gathers bottles of water and foodstuff from the pantry, she decides to strike up conversation with the youth sitting rigidly in his seat. It didn't hurt to dig for some news of the outside. Being so far away, a war could probably be fought and concluded without ever being brought to their attention.

She settled two packs of mint gum on the kitchen counter. "Any interesting events going on?"

Gray eyes shift and settle on the speaker. His teeth clench before he shakes his head. Leaning back and tilting his chair, the ninja replies, "No change. The Netherworld is in hell and that will not change anytime soon."

She pauses briefly in her rummaging of the storage goods as she glances at him. "Hell? That is a bit too harsh of a description for the Netherworld." Plagued by demon spawns? Yes. Hell? Surely an exaggeration.

The ninja sits straight up again and the front two legs of the chair clatter back on the floor. "Harsh?" he inquired in a tone of mystified disbelief. "With the king dead, demons large and small are—"

"Wait, what?" The former Prophet shrieks, completely abandoning her quest to gather the traveler's supplies. The young ninja eyes her in question, and she proceeds to splutter on. "You. Just said. The king. Died. King—Overlord—the King Kritchevskoy! Dead? A-a-...assassinated?"

It was the slate-haired man's turn to be surprised now. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose in irritation. "How could you not know? Yes. Choked on his favorite black pretzels." He lets out a low hiss as he taps on the table's surface with his fingers. "And what is a Ninja to do, now that we are bodyguards with a dead charge?"

"I think I need to sit," she gasps. She sways on her feet and collapses in the other chair across from her current guest. After gulping down a few more mouthfuls of air, she finally manages to ask, "How long ago was this?"

"Three days ago." He blinks several times at his own statement. He grunts as he fists a handful of gray locks. "I guess you wouldn't."

She nods slowly as she processes this news. Regaining her composure, she gets back up to return to her task.

"And you've managed to come all the way here in a few days?"

"I told the Dimensional Gatekeeper at the castle to warp me as far away as she could. So I found myself in this part of the land."

Done with gathering the supplies, she grabs a large square cloth and wraps the items in the rusty red linen. She sets it on the table before the man. He promptly proceeds to lift the cloth bag and swings it over a shoulder as he stands up.

"Thank you for..." He pauses, and confusion covers his expression briefly before he schools his features. "For...your kindness."

She laughs melodically as she leads him back to the entrance. "It's nothing. Good luck on your journey."

He nods curtly and departs, disappearing from the meadow like a passing gust of air. As expected of a person from the ninja class.

"Now, about that dinner," she mutters to herself as she returns to the deeper sections of the house, humming along the way. If she didn't hurry, they would be having a late meal tonight.

She ties a red sash along the neck of the last rabbit. All decorated and groomed now, the fluffy little animals hop about and gently pat each other's ribbons with tender front paws. Suddenly, they stop after they form a ring, and Pleinair blinks her red eyes owlishly in open confusion. She unconsciously grows tense in response to this unusual behavior displayed by the wild critters. Not that having them complacent enough to tie ribbons on wasn't strange, but this seemed...

The rabbit that she had brought back from her house bounds forward into her open arms and lifts a paw, placing it between her eyebrows; at the same time, the other rabbits make small leaps forward, shrinking the circle. A ripple of wind suddenly stirs the once still air, and the leafy canopy rustles overhead as a few stray leaves skid along the dirt floor.

...mysterious. Ritualistic, even.

Her red orbs bore into the beady crimson pupils of the rabbit that hovered like a statue before her. All of a sudden, she feels a tingling warmth course through her body and a concentrated burst of energy on her forehead. What in the Netherworld—

Usagi Drop.

The words flash through her conscious with crystal clarity as it is branded into her mind. Her scarlet pupils widen even further as she stares in shock at the frozen rabbits. And even if she does not understand what is going on, she can sense that this is a very special event for both her and her rabbit companions.

Trust, loyalty. Absolute devotion, and unbreakable Friendship.

Just as abruptly as it started, the rabbits stir to life again, and the moment is shattered, the supernatural bonds vanishing as if they had never occurred. She blinks a couple more times as she reorients herself. The ears of the rabbits twitch agitatedly, and suddenly they scamper off in all directions. The one in her arms gives her a more forceful nudge before hopping rapidly away.

Pleinair quickly leaps to her feet as her eyes try to follow all the rabbits in their frenzied departure. As she wonders what has caused them to become so unsettled now—what broke that harmonious atmosphere before—she finally spares some attention to her surroundings.

The patches of sky that are visible through the tree branches and leaves are a pitch black. She panics as she realizes that it must be already past dinnertime. She hastily takes two steps before she freezes again. Something is amiss.

Nightfall. It shouldn't be so bright here then.

And then it finally reaches her ear drums, deafening bellows and shrill screams that pierce the night air.

Springing to life, she immediately dashes for the clearing.

She stops her stirring of the pot of vegetable soup as she hears the heavy stomping of feet and screams. Diving out of her own house, she stares in shock at the scene displayed before her, wavering to and fro across her vision.

She runs over to a doubled-over figure, an elderly brunette that owned the quaint cottage beside hers. A cottage that now had one completely obliterated section of wall.

Pleinair's mother turns her head up, and the sight makes her lungs cease to function. Up above, a swarm of Ahzi Dahaka and Nidhogg circle the air, randomly swooping down to crush buildings while releasing great bursts of Fire Breath. All before her is a sea of raging flames that swallow the scattered wooden structures as they cave into themselves.

She looks back to the grandma beside her and asks urgently, "Are you alright? Ellen!"

However, the elderly woman is too shocked, and her lungs are too clogged with ash for her to muster any response. She hastily casts Omega Heal on her neighbor and proceeds to try and calm her down, but a symphony of screams interrupt her original course of action.

Next thing she knows, she sees the rest of the locals running madly from the village interior. Her stomach lurches as she sees the flames licking their clothes, the fire eating away at their charred flesh and charcoaled skin. She casts Omega Heal with a range of effect to cover all the villagers, but it isn't enough. The dragons above release deep rumbles of laughter and unleash all their flames in this direction now that they are gathered in a single location waiting for death.

She is fast running out of power to cast magic, and the rate at which the flames consume them alive is too fast for her healing spells to undo. Her mind buzzes in panic yet her body functions autonomously, casting Heal again and again over her fellow villagers. She never thought the day would come when she would regret her retirement, her abandonment of her staff, her magic orbs—

Her intuition makes her break off her thoughts and spin backwards. Eyes fling wide open as she sees Pleinair standing at the outer edges of the woods. She ceases to take in any other information that her senses bombard her with.

"RUN!" She screams, but her beloved child remains completely frozen. Her eyes sting as she narrows them again, eyebrows crinkling in pure desperation. "PLEINAIR! GET AWAY NOW!"

Pleinair didn't need to be told twice. Her child heeds the order, and turns around to dash back into the shade of trees. Her disappearing back is the last thing Pleinair's mother sees before all is engulfed in a stifling wave of blazing heat.

The scene is scalded into her memory. Her frantic mind replays the image of the burning village at the base of the hill. She recalls the angry red-orange flames and flurry of yellow sparks reflected in her crimson orbs, the molten embers that singed the grass into withered tufts of black smoldering bits, the dragons looming straight above, her mother's ash-coated face of despair. She hears the cacophony of dying shrieks and the rumbles of mocking laughter. Releasing a series of hacking coughs to expel the choking fumes and ash that she had breathed into her lungs, Pleinair continues to surge onwards.

She runs and runs, she just keeps moving, stumbling over fallen logs, leaping over the tittering squirrels and other animals that are also scrambling for their natural hideouts. She nimbly flees from the picture of her village crumbling into rubble and ash, ignoring the twigs that snap at her and scratch her soft skin.

Soon, too soon, the voices die off, fading after a final crescendo of roars and wails. She doesn't know if it is because she's too far away or if it's because it is all over, if they have avoided complete decimation or if everything was pillaged and destroyed. Diving deeper and deeper into the woods, she finally breaks through the trees as she reaches the outskirts on the opposite side.

She slows down as she treks up a neighboring hill of rolling grass. When she reaches the top, her eyes hone in on the sight of the eerily glowing valley that is still burning, burning, burning.

She collapses onto her hands and knees, and a strangled sob rips itself from her throat.

King Krichevskoy, the mighty ruler of the Netherworld...

His long reign came to an abrupt end as the news of his death spread throughout the dark land.

Ambitious demons rose one after another to seize the opportunity, and thus began the age of turbulence and anarchy.

The Hour of Darkness falls upon the Netherworld.